Yellow River - “China’s sorrow.” Huang He River on the travel map How to say yellow river in Chinese

Yellow River, Ustar Huang He (Chinese: 黄河, pinyin Huáng Hé) is a river in China. Translated from Chinese language Its name - " Yellow River", which is due to the abundance of sediments that give a yellowish tint to its waters. It is thanks to them that the sea into which the river flows is called Yellow. The Yellow River basin is considered the place of formation and formation of the Chinese ethnic group.

The Yellow River originates in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau at an altitude of over 4000 m, flows through lakes Orin-Nur and Dzharin-Nur, spurs of the Kunlun and Nanshan mountain ranges. When crossing the Ordos and the Loess Plateau, in its middle course it forms a large bend, then through the gorges of the Shanxi Mountains it enters the Great Chinese Plain, along which it flows about 700 km before flowing into the Bohai Bay of the Yellow Sea, forming a delta in the confluence area. According to various sources, the length of the river is from 4670 km to 5464 km, and the area of ​​its basin is from 745 thousand km² to 771 thousand km².

The average water flow in the river is approximately 2000 m³ per second. The river has a monsoon regime during summer floods with water levels rising up to 5 m on the plains and up to 20 m in the mountains.

Eroding the Loess Plateau and the Shanxi Mountains, the Yellow River annually carries out 1.3 billion tons of suspended sediment, ranking first among the world's rivers in terms of this indicator. Intensive sediment deposition in the lower reaches raises the channel, which is located at heights from 3 to 10 m above the adjacent plains. In order to protect against floods, the Yellow River and its tributaries are fenced off by a large-scale system of dams, the total length of which is about 5 thousand km. Dam failures led to huge floods and channel shifts. This led to the death of large numbers of people and gave the river the nickname "The Mountain of China". The maximum recorded movement of the Yellow River channel was about 800 km.

The waters of the Yellow River are actively used for irrigation of agricultural land. A number of hydroelectric power stations were built on the river. Through the Grand Canal it is connected to the Huaihe and Yangtze rivers.

The Yellow River is navigable in certain areas, mainly on the Great Chinese Plain. The Yellow River Valley is densely populated. Among the cities located along its banks, the largest are Lanzhou, Baotou, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Jinan.

The study of the water energy of the Yellow River has only just begun, but several sections of the river that are particularly rich in hydroenergy have already been identified and explored. The river conceals large reserves of water energy in its upper reaches, where it is characterized by a rapid flow and a significant slope of the riverbed. The bed of the Yellow River here often compresses with mountain ranges; the Yellow River flows through narrow and deep mountain gorges. Moreover, in the area of ​​one of the gorges - Liujiaxia, near Lanzhou, the reserves of hydropower resources are especially large. The total hydropower reserves in the area from Guide to the Qingtongxia Gorge exceed 10 million kW.
The Yellow River below the city of Toketo has significant reserves of hydroelectric power.

Here the river narrows to 52 meters and forms a waterfall 17 meters high, on which a hydroelectric station can be built. Near Longmen, the Yellow River flows through a gorge for fifty kilometers, sandwiched by steep cliffs several hundred meters high. The river speed here is quite high, and that is why the Longmen Gorge is one of the richest areas in China with hydroelectric power. Of the tributaries of the Yellow River, the Datonghe and Weihe rivers are richest in water energy. The first river has large reserves in its lower reaches. At the very mouth of the river, where it is especially deep, a deep Xiangtanxia gorge has formed, where a high-power hydroelectric station can be built. The water energy reserves of the second river are concentrated mainly in the upper reaches of the river, especially in the area of ​​​​the cities of Tianshui and Baoji. A major source of hydroelectric power is the Yellow River and in the area of ​​Sanmenxia (“Three Gate Gorge”), below Tongguan. The river flows here through three deep gorges.

It is important to note that the Yellow River basin receives relatively little precipitation, with a peak in the summer, when some areas receive up to 700-800 mm per month. There are frequent downpours, which causes summer and autumn floods. In areas where the river flows from south to north, there are cases when a thaw has already set in in the south, but ice still lingers in the north. As a result, the riverbed becomes clogged with floating ice floes, the water level rises sharply, which also brings losses to people.

At the same time, in Shaanxi province many tributaries flow into the Yellow River, and if a cyclone covers a wide area and the water level rises simultaneously in several tributaries, then a disaster is inevitable.

But it's not just summer rains that cause serious flooding on the Yellow River. One of the main reasons is also soil erosion in the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi and Shanxi. Thus, in the west, between the cities of Lanzhou and Luoyang, there is the most powerful loess plateau in the world. The soils here are very fertile, for each ton of loess contains a significant amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium. The washing away of the soil of the loess plateau is a natural process that lasts for centuries. Due to rains, the process of erosion of loess accelerates. Thus, annually in the basin of the middle reaches of the Yellow River, erosion lowers the plateau by 2.16 mm.

The Yellow River, or Yellow River, is known throughout the world for its steep character and great length (sixth largest in the world). This deep river is the pride of China. According to ancient legends, Chinese culture arose on the banks of the Yellow River. It is called the Great, considering it the basis of civilization. Let us consider in this article why it is called this and into which sea the Yellow River flows.

Great River of China

The first mention of the Yellow River appears in the Hanshu, a publication describing the deeds of the Han clan. However, in earlier literary sources it is called He (河 – “river”). The name Yellow River was assigned to the Yellow River (literally translated from Chinese “huang” - yellow, “he” - river; on English language- Yellow River), since water flows acquire a cloudy yellowish tint due to the loess (clay), mud, and silt washed up on top.

The Yellow River begins to flow in the highlands of the Chinese province of Qinghai. Locals call it Ma Chu, which means Peacock River.

The Yellow River of China is known for its tough temper: it shows its restlessness due to unexpected floods and the ability to change its course. During its entire existence, it changed its usual flow route 26 times, merging with other bodies of water. One of the most famous is that it flows into the Yellow Sea in a completely different place - due to the destruction of dams, the river bed diverted 800 km during the war with Japan.

The unusual properties of the Yellow River include the elevation of certain sections of the riverbed above the plain. The maximum difference between levels reaches up to 10 meters. This phenomenon is observed due to yellow silty deposits settling on the banks in a thick layer.

As a result, growing natural dams are formed and a huge volume of water mass is forced to look for new approaches to the sea. That is why muddy water can spill at any time, flooding everything around, causing considerable casualties and destruction. Spills are most common during the rainy season (July–October). Because of this, the Yellow River was called “the grief of the sons of Khan” or “the grief of China.” The state is making a lot of efforts: the tributaries are protected by dams, the length of which is total is 5000 km.

Thanks to the Great River, more than one hundred million people receive water that they use for drinking, industrial and agricultural needs.

The strong flow of the river led to the construction of many hydroelectric power stations, thanks to which it receives electricity. However, hydroelectric power stations cause significant harm to the river, polluting it. At the end of the 20th century, drying out of its northern part was noted.

Geography of the river

The source of the Yellow River is located in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, from where it directs its path through the Orin-/Dzharin-Nur lakes to the east. Then, through the ridges of the Kunlun and Nanshan mountains, it returns to the west and, deviating to the north, crosses the ghost city of Ordos, the Loess Plain, forming a gateway. Next, the water flow moves through the mountainous Shanxi Gorge and heads east along the Northern Chinese Plain to the Bohai Bay.

There is no clear opinion among researchers about the length of the Yellow River. According to various sources, it varies from 4670 to 5464 kilometers, and the area water basin up to 771 km2.

The Yellow River is located on the lands of 7 provinces and 2 autonomous regions. On the map you can see: a large water artery passes through the large cities of Baotou, Luoyang, Wuhui, etc.

The Yellow River is divided into currents:

1. The upper one stretches for almost 3500 km. From its source in the Bayan-Khara-Ula mountains it extends to Inner Mongolia, where it radically changes direction to the south.
2. The middle current lies between Hekou and Zhengzhou (Loess Plateau region). Water flow has doubled, largely thanks to a large number tributaries It accounts for 92% of river sediments: loess, mud and sand settling in the lower reaches.
3. The lower reaches (786 kilometers) - from Zhengzhou to the mouth. Here the water level is 10 m higher, the river is navigable and flows along a high dam.

The average water consumption is about 2000 m3/s. The Yellow River is characterized by a monsoon regime, which allows the water level to rise during summer floods to 5 m in flat areas and up to 20 m in mountainous areas.

Where does it flow

The Yellow River is the sixth longest river in the world. She overcomes a difficult winding path of more than 5000 km. The pride of China, the Yellow River, forms a delta and flows into the Yellow Sea, which is the Pacific basin.

Yellow River in ancient times

According to maps preserved from the Qin clan, the course of the Yellow River extended north of today. The waterway merged with the Bohai Bay near Tianjin. In 602 BC. Great River headed south from the Shandong Peninsula.

During Zhanguo's time, warriors exploited river resources by destroying dams and flooding enemy territory. It is known that in the 10th century, Tuan Ning, defending the PRC from the Hou Tang army, deliberately blew up the dams of the Yellow River basin. The raging water flows flooded about 2,600 km2. The channel has also changed. In 1020, an agreement was concluded banning the change of river channels.

However, a little later, in 1034, water masses The Yellow River's hydraulic structures were again breached. After this, the workers tried to return the flow to its previous course, but they failed. More than 100,000 people took part in the restoration of the river route, which lasted more than five years.

Another flood in 1048 and a dam break in 1194 significantly changed the course. The flood besieged the mouth of the Huaihe: it began to flow into Lake Hongtze and then into the Yangtze.

Middle Ages in the history of the river

The disaster that occurred in 1344 again turned the Yellow River to the south and became the reason for the overthrow of the Yuan clan and the accession to the throne of the Ming dynasty. In 1642 (before this, the Yellow River flooded twice more), the governor of Kaifeng tried to destroy the dams in order to destroy the peasant rebels, but this caused the city to flood.

From 1851 to 1855, floods of the Yellow River were recorded every two years. The disaster that raged in the 80s of the 19th century took the lives of almost 2 million people. During the flood of 1897, the river regained its modern course.

Today, the Yellow River extends through Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. However, over the entire period of its existence, it changed its eastern outlines several times.

The Chinese have learned to subjugate the harsh temper of the Yellow River. Dams installed along the entire riverbed regulate the water level, preventing the natural elements from raging. Formed ice blocks blow up. There are animals in the delta rare species, about 400 plant species grow. Hukou Waterfall, nature reserve Sanjiangyuan, the Jinan cable-stayed bridge, the Three Gates Gorge and other equally beautiful locations in the vicinity of the Yellow River attract the attention of tourists every year.

The Yellow River is famous throughout the world. This full-flowing river is the real pride of China, but at the same time it forces the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire to live in constant readiness to the surprises that the Yellow River can present at any moment.

Yellow River - the cradle of the nation

According to legend, the Yellow River was the basis of the entire Chinese civilization. The great Chinese culture arose on its banks and in the river valley. The Great River received its second name due to the presence in its waters of sandy-yellow silt, which washes up in the plains.

The length of the river is almost five thousand kilometers. The Yellow River flows into the Yellow Sea.
The source of the river is high in the mountains, at an altitude of 4 thousand meters. The river's path lies across the Great Chinese Plain.

Yellow River - a restless river

The steep character of the river is manifested in its unexpected floods and sudden changes in its bed. Over several thousand years, more than two dozen cases have been noted when the Yellow River deviated from its usual route and merged with neighboring rivers.

How do you like a river that can flow into the sea from a completely different direction? Almost 800 kilometers - this is the largest deviation of the riverbed during the war with Japan. Then the cause of the disaster was the destruction of the dams. By the way, there are several of them on the river.
Dams and restrictions stretch along the Yellow River for five thousand kilometers.

Unusual property of the Yellow River

In many places along the river you can see a rather strange sight. Sections of the riverbed rise above the surrounding plain. Sometimes the difference in levels reaches almost 10 meters. The culprit is yellow silt, the deposits of which over centuries have formed a huge and thick layer and settle on the banks. Muddy water can splash out and spill at any moment, bringing grief to people and flooding everything around.

The state is making a lot of efforts to keep the restive river under control.

The Yellow River is a great, powerful, amazing landmark. Everyone who visits China notes the special attractiveness of the river, despite its muddy waters. It always evokes a reverent feeling of admiration for the forces of nature.

Yellow River photo

China

The Yellow River is a river flowing in China, passing through the entire territory of the People's Republic of China and extends to some other countries, it also flows in Mongolia. The Yellow River occupies a significant place in the entire nation of China, and yet many did not even know about the existence of such a river in China.

The Yellow River can rightfully be called the “mother” of the birth of the great Chinese nation. The Yellow River is something like the Nile River in Egypt. It was on the banks of this river that the first ancestors of today's Chinese originated. Actually, the Yellow River still occupies a leading role in the life and activities of China, but first things first. The Yellow River translated from Chinese sounds like “Yellow River”, so you can often find this name.

The question arises, why is the river yellow? This is the one rare case when the name coincides with the very structure of the river. The river is called yellow precisely because it has a dark yellow color. Indeed, most sections of the Yellow River (there are extremely clean areas) are yellow, even Brown color. The river acquires this color thanks to the various sandstones through which it passes; due to the strong current, the river quickly erodes its bed, washing out the soil, which actually gives the river this color.

And the yellow plume extending far into the Yellow Sea, where the yellow river flows, can be seen several kilometers away.

Photo from space

Due to drifts carried with them, the river is quite dirty, and the water in it is mostly muddy. The Yellow River occupies a leading place among rivers carrying soil with it; annually the Yellow River carries 1.3 billion tons of various silt, sand and soil into the Yellow Sea. As you already understand, the mouth of the river is the Yellow Sea, and the source of the Yellow River comes from the Tibetan Plateau itself, at an altitude of 4,000 meters.

In terms of its length, the yellow river takes an honorable 6th place, its length is 5,464 km, although it is not a record holder, it is also very long. The river's drainage area is 752,000 km². The main tributaries are the rivers: Daxia, Tao, Weihe, Luohe. The river has a fairly fast current, with an average water flow of 2000 m³ per second.

Along the banks of the Yellow River are concentrated some of the most major cities China, such as: Lanzhou, Yinchuan, Baotou, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Jinan. The Yellow River is the main waterway of some of China's rapidly developing rural areas. Also water resources the yellow river is used as drinking water, as well as for industrial purposes. A number of large hydroelectric power stations are concentrated in the most intense sections of the river.

The river has a wide industrial character. Some sections of the river are even used for navigation, but this is only a small part, because the river as a whole is not suitable for movement. Unfortunately, the productive use of the river also entails intense pollution. The situation in the river in 2005 was such that most of the waters of the Yellow River are not suitable even for irrigation Agriculture. This is the result of numerous waste emissions from industrial enterprises and cities actively growing near the river.

No matter how many people there were, they didn’t try to adapt surrounding nature to his interests, he still will not achieve complete submission. This happened with the Yellow River in China. The fact is that along the entire length of the river there are protective dams; they were built to contain water in the riverbed during floods. The river has a monsoon regime and the river waters can sometimes rise up to 20 meters in height.

Over the entire history of the life of the formidable Yellow River, 26 changes in the river bed have been recorded, and even more dam breaks - 1,573 times the water overflowed their limits! The next water breakthrough or dam destruction inevitably entails dire consequences. With every water spill, the impending disaster claims the lives of millions of people.

The first mentioned river flood, with subsequent changes, the river destroyed the entire Qin Dynasty. And the flood of 1887 killed approximately 2 million people. The last disaster occurred in 1938, when the Chinese authorities deliberately broke the dams to stop the advance of Japanese troops. As a result of this flood, about 900 thousand civilians died.

And before this spill there was another one, in 1931, then between 1,000,000 and 4 million people died. The fact is that the river, with its flow, constantly washes away soil and carries it with it; in some especially polluted areas, natural dams are created, which subsequently entails flooding. Another reason may be the annual melting of ice. Ice forms ice jams that prevent the rest of the water from passing through, resulting in flooding. Today, the Chinese government is doing an excellent job of managing the river bed and preventing all possible floods.

HUANG HE – “CHINA’S TRAVEL”

So local residents for many centuries the river was called the Yellow River. The Chinese name translates as “The Woe of the Khan’s Sons,” which indicates frequent floods. Over the past four thousand years, the river has broken through dams more than one and a half thousand times, flooding agricultural lands and entire villages. As a result, tens of millions of people died, as many went missing, and material damage amounted to hundreds of billions of dollars.

According to UNESCO statistics, about 200 thousand people have died from river floods over the past 20 years (not counting victims of floods caused by tropical cyclones). Rivers of disaster include the Amazon in Brazil, the Amur in Russia, the Arno and Po in Italy, the Ganges and Brahmaputra in India, the Mississippi and Missouri in the USA, and the Yangtze and Yellow River in China.

One of the main water arteries China - the Yellow River - is called the “River of a Thousand Sorrows”. It changed its course more than 20 times, flowing either into the Bohai Bay, then into the Yellow Sea south of the Shandong Peninsula, and even into the East China Sea - in the area of ​​​​the current mouth of the Yangtze. At the same time, the water flooded fields and villages, killed people and livestock, and gave rise to epidemics and famine. At the same time, she is called “Mother River” because she is the breadwinner for millions of peasants, gives new life fields: the water receding after a spill leaves a significant part of the most fertile loess (silt) collected upstream. After all, each ton of loess contains a significant amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium. Yellow River is one of the most muddy rivers in the world: it carries about 26 kg of silt per cubic yard of water. During a spill, the current can carry up to 544 kg of sludge per cubic yard, which is approximately 70% of its volume. The river carries about one and a half thousand tons of loess into the Yellow Sea annually. The color of the water gave it another name – the Yellow River.

From its upper reaches, the Yellow River brings up to 400 million tons of silt and sand to the Great Chinese Plain annually. As a result, the lower course of the “River of Sorrow” rises, and it seems to hang over the surrounding area. Currently, the height of the river bed above the surrounding plain in some places reaches three to five meters. On average, its rise increases by 10 cm per year. In addition, the river bed narrows due to silt, which entails a decrease in its bandwidth and leads to an increase in catastrophic floods.

The source of many Chinese tragedies originates in the eastern part of Tibet at an altitude of 4.5 thousand meters above sea level, approximately 161 km west of Lake Jarin Hyp (Gyaring Tso). From here the Yellow River begins its 5463 km long journey to Yellow Sea. It is the fourth longest river in Asia, although it drainage basin with an area of ​​979 thousand km2, it ranks only seventh in the world. The river's path upper reaches For 1175 km it runs through sparsely populated areas of China. It descends along rapids and deep gorges and breaks out from the Tibetan Plateau onto the desert plains of Inner Mongolia. Then it flows through the Loess Plateau, the Ordos Desert, the eastern spurs of the Qin Liying ridge and finally reaches the expanses of the Great Chinese Plain. Here, due to a layer of silt deposited over thousands of years, the river level is several meters higher than the level of the surrounding area. Therefore, people had to fence the riverbed on both sides with earthen ramparts, sometimes reaching a height of ten meters.

In July-October, during the monsoon rainy season, high water occurs; the maximum water flow in the river sometimes exceeds low-water levels by 200 times! It is during this period that catastrophic floods occur. For example, in 2356 BC. e. The Yellow River overflowed its banks, a severe flood occurred, the river changed its course and began to flow into the Yellow Sea near the city of Tianjin. In 602 BC. e. There was an increase in the number of floods, which forced residents to build protective structures to pacify the unbridled temper of the “Mother River”. Without mechanisms and machines, hundreds of thousands of peasants with baskets on rocker arms carried soil and built a high dam. That year the formidable river changed its course again. By 69 BC. e. on the plain, a system of protective dams had already been created by millions of human hands. But the Yellow River, sweeping away everything in its path, continued to change direction. The peasants are practically with bare hands built new protective structures to replace the dams destroyed by the unruly elements.

In 1324, the river returned to its southern course, flooding millions of hectares of rice fields and gardens, condemning the local population to starvation. Once again it took the hellish work of millions of people to restore normal life. In 1332, one of the most catastrophic floods occurred, killing thousands of people and leaving millions of Chinese homeless. After it, a plague epidemic broke out, killing seven million people. Infection occurred, among other things, through dirty river water in which the corpses of people and animals floated. In 1851, after another flood, the river turned north and carried its waters along the modern bed. This resulted in the destruction of numerous villages, the death of thousands of peasants and livestock, the flooding of fields, gardens, and sources of clean drinking water. As a result, disease and hunger began among the population. In October 1887, a flood brought death to 900 thousand people (according to other sources, about two million people drowned and died of starvation). The waters of the Yellow River flooded 80 thousand km 2 of land, which is approximately equal to the entire territory of Austria. Many villages were buried under a layer of silt, about seven million people were left homeless, and thousands of people went missing.

In 1927, the Chinese invited foreign engineers to consult on issues of protection against dangerous water. One of them shared his impressions of the Yellow River: “There is obviously no other river in the whole world that brings so little benefit to people, given the dense population of the area through which it flows. Local residents can only partially protect themselves from its destructive activities. Even as a transport artery it is not of great importance. This river more enemy than a helper." Despite modern dams, 1931 brought a huge number of victims - the disaster took 3.7 million human lives. The raging water, crushing all obstacles in its path, flooded settlements and rice fields, killed millions of livestock and left hundreds of thousands of families homeless. In 1933, about 4 million people suffered from the invasion of waters, 18 thousand drowned, over three thousand settlements found itself under water. More than 500 million cubic meters of land had to be moved by people in order to again force the river to flow along its designated channel and reclaim fertile lands from it. In June 1938, the tragedy occurred through the fault of the Chinese themselves. They directed the waters of the Yellow River from west to southeast in order to stop the advance of the Japanese invaders. The entire area, along with the enemy, was flooded, the river went to the Pacific Ocean along its old bed. This cost the lives of half a million Chinese peasants, whose villages and fields disappeared under water, and livestock died. This is the price Beijing paid for stopping the advance of the Japanese army.

By the time of the proclamation of the Chinese People's Republic October 1, 1949 general state the nature of the country was deplorable. Only 8–9% of the area of ​​the entire territory remained forested; more than 1 million km 2 of soil was subject to erosion. But especially significant damage environment was applied during the period great leap and the Cultural Revolution. In those years, in order to quickly solve the food problem, the Beijing communist elite put forward the slogan: “Grain is the basis of foundations.” In accordance with this, not only the uncontrolled plowing of new lands began, but also the repurposing of many existing agricultural lands. In the steppes of Northwestern China and Inner Mongolia, millions of hectares of pasture were plowed for grain crops. In coastal areas, even fish spawning grounds were drained and sown with grain. Peasants were required to harvest two crops a year, although it takes eight to nine months to grow wheat there. Forests were cut down everywhere, even in the upper reaches of the Yangtze and Yellow River. This led to new disasters. In August 1950, as a result of the flood of the two main rivers of the People's Republic of China - the Yellow River and the Yangtze - about 500 people drowned and more than 10 million were left homeless. The disaster destroyed 890 thousand homes, and 5 million acres of agricultural land were under water. Approximately 4 million acres of land remained uncultivable throughout the growing season. Livestock production also suffered enormous damage.

The PRC government called on the local population to “curb the Yellow River” and developed a plan that included the construction of hydroelectric power stations, flood control spillways, irrigation canals, etc. In the first decades, the Yellow River Canal was built, connecting the Yellow River and Weihe, as well as the “People's Victory Canal.” To reduce the threat of flooding in the area, two spillways were built to drain excess water. To solve the problem of supplying electricity to industrial areas, prevent major floods, develop an irrigation system, improve navigation conditions and regulate runoff, the Sanmenxia hydroelectric power station was built. The second major hydraulic construction project on the Yellow River was the Liujiaxia hydroelectric power station. Hydroelectric power stations came into operation on many reservoirs, which significantly reduced the risk of floods - with the help of dams and spillways it was possible to regulate the flow of water.

But despite all the measures, the elements turned out to be stronger. In 1998, floods in the Middle Kingdom killed four thousand people, injured 40 million, and destroyed 5 million homes, as well as roads, bridges, railway embankments, power lines and communications. Total economic damage amounted to more than $36 billion. The government sent thousands of rescuers and army units to fight the disaster. On November 14, 2002, a project to strengthen flood control dams on the Yellow River was launched. In sections of the flow in the area of ​​​​the cities of Heze and Jinan, the total length is 128 km. But still, a year later a new disaster occurred. After heavy rains in September-October 2003 and the wayward river and one of its tributaries running out of control, about 300 thousand people were forced to evacuate to safe areas. In Shanxi province alone, more than 20 thousand hectares of agricultural land and several villages were flooded as a result of the flood. This was already the fifth flooding in a year.

But here’s a paradox: despite the devastating seasonal floods, the Yellow River is the largest river in the world that is prone to drying out. Lately Due to the high consumption for irrigation of rice paddies and gardens, an acute shortage of water in the Yellow River began to be felt. In 1972, for the first time, its waters did not reach the mouth for two weeks. In the next decade, the river in its lower reaches dried up several times, and since 1982 this began to happen every year. At the same time, the water-free period increased all the time. For example, in the dry summer of 1997, the lower reaches completely dried out for more than 140 days (according to other sources - for 226 days), leaving peasant plots without water. Every year, periods of drying up of the Yellow River became longer and longer, posing a threat to agricultural land. Crop failure, in turn, created hunger in millions of Chinese families.

Chapter VI. Great Tribulation Matthew 24:21